Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Opening Day Arrives in Philly

After yesterday’s 4-1 loss to the Braves, the Phillies have now lost 4 straight Opening Day games, three of which have been behind Brett Myers.The good news is, they lost last year too and still won the World Series.The slightly bad news is, it appears our left-handed heavy line-up may need some shaking up.Get to that in a moment; first, some pictures from the Opening Day pomp and circumstance which include the pre-game line-up; cake in the Diamond Club; Mitch Williams joking around with Shane Victorino; Ryan Howard doing an interview; Chase Utley warming up:

More pre-game excitement:The entire Phillies team actually entered the stadium from OUTSIDE the ballpark, walking in behind a high school marching band.They wandered through Ashburn Alley above the centerfield seats, walked through the outfield seating section and down a set of very scary looking metal steps while high-fiving the fans they passed by; they were then greeted by more fans on the field, draped along a red carpet leading to mid-field.The photos below show the Army opening up the American flag; the decent to the outfield stairs; the raising of the World Series flag; the red carpet of fans; Matt Stairs poking himself in the belly and laughing (I guess he thinks he is the Pillsbury DoughBoy?); and finally, Army paratroopers entering the stadium with the game ball.Fun note – the first parachute guy missed the stadium and landed somewhere in the parking lot – oops!

Before the game, I spoke with our friend Todd Zolecki from The Zo Zone, who was happy to be back in Philly and getting on with the season, as we all are.I also spoke to Larry Shenk from Phillies Insiderwho was equally excited to get the season started.To the right is a photo of me with Todd; I also took a picture with Larry, which I cropped myself out of and Photo-shopped him next to me and Todd.Larry looks great, but I had a really dumb look on my face; besides, we don’t need any more pictures of me ;O)

Anyway, the game did get off to a somewhat ominous start when, after the raising of the World Series flag, manager Charlie Manuel began walking down the aisle towards the outfield steps to make his way onto the field behind the players.But in a strange turn of events, just as Manuel neared the wobbly looking metal stair case, the CBP employees pulled the steps up from the field!Yes, they took the stairs right out from under him, leaving him stranded amongst hundreds of excited fans.Poor Charlie had to hike it back up the aisle and figure out another way onto the field.A bad omen for the day, perhaps?

The game began with Brett Myers giving up 3 home runs in the first 2 innings for 4 runs total.Myers has become notorious for his early inning struggles, but after those 2 innings, he settled in and pitched 4 more scoreless innings.However, Derek Lowe for the Braves was lights out all night, with the Phillies getting only 2 hits off him.Lowe had a shut-out going into the 9th inning, but much to everyone’s surprise, he was not sent out to finish the game.

Instead, lefty Mike Gonzalez took over in the 9th and quickly got into trouble against our few right-handed bats.With 1 out, pinch-hitter Eric Bruntlett lined a ball down the left field line for a double and then Jayson Werth sent him home with a single.And here come the lefties:Utley managed to draw a walk, but then Ryan Howard got caught looking at strike 3 and newcomer, Raul Ibanez went down swinging; game over.The left handed bats killed the rally, which is the nightmare Philly fans have been envisioning all off-season.But again, it is only one game; no need to panic or even be slightly bummed out about it.Lowe pitched an amazing game and sometimes when that happens, there is not much anyone can do.

So, Phillies fans are left with the following questions to ponder:Will this mostly left-handed line-up figure out how to get it done?Is Ibanez going to have a rough time endearing himself to the fans after starting out 0-4 on Opening Day?Will Myers solve the early innings puzzle?Well, we have 161 more games to figure that all out.Just chill…:O)

In the meantime, more photos!Below, you will see Myers pitching; Ibanez catching a fly ball; Utley in mid-air after a quick throw to first; the Phanatic and friend as a cheer squad; and a close-up of the fancy gold-trimmed Opening Day jerseys which you can buy at the park for a who*pping $240 (excuse the * edit as this program thinks it is a bad word)!!

I have put together a photo albumwith these and many more shots from Opening Day which you can see HERE.Hope you like them :O)One more for you though; This is my Photo of the Day.It is Jayson Werth, apparently, kissing a tree frog; taken from the Phillies Phanavision. :O)

The Phillies have the day off today to recuperate from another disappointing Opening Day and then it is back at it with the Braves on Tuesday night; game time is 7:05pm.

13 Comments

OK, that Jayson Werth photo is just plain weird! Don’t they have people to check out how this stuff looks before they put it on the Phanavision? Great pix! Game, not so great. Although as my husband pointed out, at least we’re only one game out of first place. :-)
SueRants, Raves, and Random Thoughts

Jenn,
Even though the Phillies lost, it sounds like you had a great time! And I LOVE the pictures. They are so great! Thank you for sharing them with us! Opening Day sounds like it is a really special event.
Elizabethhttp://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com

That skit with the Phantic made it onto ESPN, but the guy needs some work on his dance moves lol.
I was kind of taken aback by the clean shaven Brett Myers. I thought they might have changed pitchers at the last moment. But maybe he was trying to break that streak of losses to start the season.
But you got to admit this. Myers needs to stuff his change-up in his back pocket for a bit………..it is killing him.

Thanks everyone! Yes, it was a great time :O)
Jane – I hope so too!
Dean – Yup, still a great game :O)
JB – Thanks, you too!
Renegade – Yup…Myers was supposed to be “working” on that change-up but now is not the time to play around with it. And yeah, he cleaned up a bit; lost 35 lbs. too.

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